9.28.2014

10.01.14 [#PicksOfTheWeek]

#PicksOfTheWeek is brought to you with generous support from
my retail sponsor Yesteryear Comics. Make Yesteryear Comics your choice in San
Diego for great customer service and the best discounts possible on a wide
selection of mainstream and independent titles. Customers receive an attractive
20% discount on new titles during their first week of release. Yesteryear
Comics is located at 9353 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

It’s a relatively small week for me, but there are still
some strong picks to be found. Leading the pack is Moon Knight #8 by Brian
Wood, Greg Smallwood, and Jordie Bellaire, with cover at by Declan Shalvey.
This issue features a bold structural approach right at home in the world of
the ubiquitous iPhone, an installment of this crisp series that’s sure to
delight with its willingness to experiment with the medium, examine our
perceptions of public figures, and provide commentary on social interaction in
The Digital Age. I’m calling it early; it could be a contender for this year’s
Eisner Award for Best Single Issue.

If you ask me, Jason Aaron is responsible for (along with
artist R. M. Guera, a guy who should seriously be working more) one of the
greatest modern comics with Scalped,
so I’m always up for more of his creator-owned work. If Southern Bastards wasn’t enough to stick in your craw, this week
it’s Men
of Wrath #1 with Ron Garney. Aaron’s work is so strong that I also read
his work-for-hire projects, so I’ll give Thor #1 a look too, with art by
Russell Dauterman, a much-ballyhooed female protagonist, and a lovely Fiona
Staples cover.

So far, I found the first volume of the series a little more raucous
funny, but God Hates Astronauts #2 will surely be good for a laugh at the
hands of Ryan Browne, and I’ll also be checking out Gotham Academy #1 by
Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, and Karl Kerschl. There’s a lot of expectation
and hype already built up around this title, so I hope it delivers. I’m also
curious about the Blackhand Comics Hardcover by the co-creator of Deadly Class, Wes Craig. I’ve been very
impressed with Craig’s work lately, like some delicious blend of David Aja and Dark Knight Returns-era Frank Miller.

I’m definitely picking
up Detective
Comics #35. Now, I don’t think I have ever recommended an issue of Detective
Comics, and I’ve been largely out on all things New 52, but this is
special. For two issues, writer Ben Percy teams up with artist John Paul Leon (The Winter Men, Earth X), who is hands
down one of the best artists working today. I’ve interviewed JPL and you’d be
hard-pressed to find a more thoughtful craftsman. He’s been primarily applying
his moody ink-drenched aesthetic to cover art in recent years (DMZ, The Massive), so it’s a real treat
to see interior work. It’s an opportunity you shouldn’t miss.

9.23.2014

Charles Soule @ Yesteryear Comics [Signing]

I’m happy to announce that my retail sponsor Yesteryear
Comics has their next in-store signing scheduled for this Saturday September
27th, 2014. This signing will feature Brooklyn, New York based writer,
musician, and attorney Charles Soule (Strange
Attractors, Letter 44, Death of Wolverine, Superman/Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing,
She-Hulk). He’ll be in the store from 10am to 1pm.

I’ll be working this event, so if you’re in San Diego, please
stop by to say hi, support the creators you love, and support my friend
Michael, owner of Yesteryear Comics. Additionally, I'll be acting as a CGC
Witness and verifying signatures for those of you interested in submitting
books for professional grading. For more information, check out
Facebook.com/YesteryearComics.

9.22.2014

9.24.14 [#PicksOfTheWeek]

#PicksOfTheWeek is brought to you with generous support from
my retail sponsor Yesteryear Comics. Make Yesteryear Comics your choice in San Diego for great customer service and the best discounts
possible on a wide selection of mainstream and independent titles. Customers
receive an attractive 20% discount on new titles during their first week of
release. Yesteryear Comics is located at 9353 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

There’s something for everyone this week, with a slew of hot
creator owned titles hitting the stands. There’s the drama of BKV & Fiona
Staples’ sales juggernaut Saga #23 continuing its Shakespearean
sprawl in the stars, the slow conceptual burn of Joe Casey & Piotr
Kowalski’s post-shared superhero universe affair in Sex #16, and the
unmistakable magic of Antony Johnston & Christopher Mitten’s dark fantasy
series in Umbral #9. If you
want to see some of the most inventive lettering, check out Thomas Mauer’s work
on this title.

Rick Remender & Greg Tocchini’s series clicked for me
with the last issue, so I’m anxious to check out Low #3, Matt Kindt’s opus
is always an easy recommendation for reality-altering intellectual espionage,
so check out Mind MGMT #26, and Robert Kirkman & Paul Azaceta’s new
joint sees its next issue with Outcast #4, which has been an
exceptionally easy sell down at the LCS (“Do you like The Exorcist? Ok, read this!”). G.I. Joe #1 offers an
impressive new take on the property at the hands of Karen Traviss & Steve
Kurth that is modernized, mature, and concerned with relevant realpolitik.

Letter 44 #10 is out from Charles Soule & Alberto
Alburquerque, and I’m still loving the high concept of this series (military
adventurism justified via ramping up R&D and creating battle-hardened
troops to address an impending alien invasion) juxtaposed with contemporary
real-world politics in the W and Obama analogues. (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT:
Charles Soule will be signing at my LCS Yesteryear Comics in San Diego this
Saturday starting at 10am, so I’ll see you there!)

I’ll also be picking up C.O.W.L. #5, a real sleeper which
has been delighting with its retro noir street-level take on unionized supes
operating in Chicago, creating all kinds of social upheaval. There’s some great
world-building happening in this series and it’s been flying under the radar,
so get on board now. I’ll take a peek at Roche Limit #1 by Michael Moreci
& Vic Malhotra because of a) their use of a cool scientific term I had to
look up, and b) the fact that Malhotra is an artist I’ve had my eye on since
his work on Thumbprint at IDW with
Joe Hill. I think Malhotra’s going to be a big deal.

I’ve read an advance of the issue, courtesy of creator
Larime Taylor, and I’m excited to see the return of A Voice In The Dark: Get Your Gun
#1, a subversively
dark thriller about college serial killings, which just nails the
behavioral science of precipitating incidents acting as catalysts for damaged
psyches. This once black and white series uses color well, by positioning
foreground objects that really pop against the muted backgrounds to
differentiate contextual elements and the main focus for our eyes. This issue
sees Zoey rattled and off her game, for once getting a taste of what it’s like
to be the one stalked and hunted.

But, my book of the week will be The Massive #27 by Brian
Wood & Garry Brown. As the series builds to its crescendo at #30, the
escalation of reveals to mysteries put in place dozens of issues ago has
dazzled recently with babies, boats, and brave new worlds. John Paul Leon’s
cover is eerily beautiful, with a painterly Hudson River School effect that
would be at home hanging on the wall in a Fine Art institution. I’ve read an
advance of this too, and with the startling moments surrounding the state of
Cal’s health, additional hints at the true nature of The Crash, and Mary’s covert
Ninth Wave ark, there’s the sense the creators are about to stick the landing
in the most unexpected way.

9.15.2014

9.17.14 [#BookOfTheWeek]

#BookOfTheWeek is brought to you with generous support from
my retail sponsor Yesteryear Comics. Make Yesteryear Comics your first and only
destination in San Diego for great customer service and the best discounts
possible on a wide selection of mainstream and independent titles. Customers
receive an attractive 20% discount on new titles during their first week of
release. Yesteryear Comics is located at 9353 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

It’s another very solid week (especially if you’re a Warren
Ellis fan) with Supreme: Blue Rose #3 and Trees #5 both arriving in stores. I’m
also really looking forward to The Wicked + The Divine #4 with its pop myth
quasi-religious treatment regarding the fickle nature of fame. There’s also
Hemingway stealing the show in The Life After #3 by Gabo and Joshua Hale
Fialkov (a writer I’m paying more attention to lately), in addition to Rick Remender and
Wes Craig’s Deadly Class #7. I’m curious to see George Perez’s Sirens #1. I
grew up on Perez art in New Teen Titans and it really informed my adult likes,
so I’m hoping it rises above the slightly pandering and gratuitous vibe I get
from the teaser images. For my money, the book of the week will be Manifest
Destiny #10. Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts have created a perfect blend of
historical speculative fiction surrounding Lewis & Clark’s expedition being
a classified mission to address mysterious forces, and art rendered in a
style rustic and believable, with intense action and some of the best coloring
happening in the industry today at the hands of Owen Gieni. It’s still a few
months off, but I’m fairly certain this title will stand as one of my picks for
best of the year.

9.08.2014

9.10.14 [#BookOfTheWeek]

#BookOfTheWeek is brought to you with generous support from my retail sponsor Yesteryear Comics. Make Yesteryear Comics your first and only destination in San Diego for great customer service and the best discounts possible on a wide selection of mainstream and independent titles. Customers receive an attractive 20% discount on new titles during their first week of release. Yesteryear Comics is located at 9353 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.

In terms of what I’m interested in, this is a huge week. We’ve
got the impeccable Lazarus #11, the seriously-heating up Sheltered #11, the
visually captivating East of West #15, the dystopic time travel drama of The Bunker #6, the
retro-inspired curiosity-piquing Captain Victory & The Galactic Rangers #2,
and an old reliable in the form of Astro City #15, a series which never fails
to delight with its peripheral investigations of a shared superhero universe.
There’s also a bunch of “maybes” that I’ll give a casual flip at the LCS, like
Prophet Strike File #1, Injustice: Gods Among Us #11, Wild’s End #1, Spread #3,
Rot & Ruin #1, and even the publishing-stunt-played-to-death-(heh) Death of
Wolverine #2, just to see what all the hubbub is about, bub. I’m also extremely
curious to see how rising star Justin Greenwood (Wasteland, The Fuse) is going
to handle his turn with Greg Rucka’s down-on-her-luck private investigator in
Stumptown: Vol. 3 #1, and in any other week, this would probably have garnered
the top spot. But, I’ve got to go with an old favorite in Wasteland #57 (Oni Press). With
series co-creator Chris Mitten back on pencils, and the final arc chugging hard
toward its planned conclusion at #60, the series has never been better. We’re
finally getting answers about the origins of The Big Wet, and I never would
have suspected these socially charged flashbacks to be so captivating.
Wasteland has vaulted to the top of the reading pile every week it’s been
released because the mystery that Antony Johnston has been penning for years is
finally revealing itself, and I’ve been savoring every panel.

9.04.2014

Jonathan Maberry @ Yesteryear Comics [Signing]

I’m happy to announce that my retail sponsor Yesteryear
Comics has their next in-store signing scheduled for next Wednesday September 10th,
2014. This signing will feature New York Times best-selling author and multiple
Bram Stoker award-winner Jonathan Maberry (V
Wars, Black Panther, Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher). He’ll be in the
store from 10am to 1pm, and we’ll be celebrating the release of his new series Rot & Ruin.

I’ll be working this event, so if you’re in San Diego,
please stop by to say hi, support the renaissance of creator owned comics, and
support my friend Michael, owner of Yesteryear Comics. Additionally, I'll be acting as a CGC Witness and verifying signatures for those of you interested in submitting books for professional
grading. For more information, check out Facebook.com/YesteryearComics.

9.02.2014

Moon Knight #7 [Advance Review]

The City is The Thing.

If you’ve ever read any of Brian Wood’s books, especially
his Creator Owned Comics – because those are the best kind of comics, natch – then
you know that the writer fiercely loves New York City, and the city tends to
pervade the work.

In books written by Brian Wood (Channel Zero, The New York Four, and DMZ probably serving as the best example), New York City transcends
its status as mere metropolitan setting and becomes a thematic undercurrent, if
not one of the characters outright. That’s certainly the case with his
inaugural issue of the new Moon Knight,
a character which has sort of shifted recently from his convoluted continuity roots
to embody that new ideal.

If Wilson was “The Ghost Protector of Chinatown” in DMZ, then I’m gonna’ take some liberties
with Brian Wood’s writing and go ahead and go on record and say that Moon
Knight is “The Ghost Protector of Marvel’s NYC.”

For this run on Moon
Knight, Brian Wood is collaborating with Greg Smallwood (ok, go ahead and
get all of the “Big Wood” and “Small Wood” jokes out of your system, you
idiots, I swear I’ve heard them all during my LCS shifts, and I’ll wait for you
to compose yourself, because this book is more important than that vapid
nonsense), along with Eisner-Winning Color Queen Jordie Bellaire. In a nod at providing
consistency with Warren Ellis’ approach on the title, Declan Shalvey remains on
cover art duty, Bellaire’s coloring itself is a welcome holdover, and Greg
Smallwood brings a similar intent to the creative team.

Smallwood’s sense of purpose is all about layout fluidity
and panel ingenuity. As was the case with Shalvey, there’s deliberately a sense
of experimentation at play, but Smallwood puts a lot of his own English on the
ball, if you’ll pardon the pool term. If you caught his captivating work on Dream Thief with Jai Nitz, then you’ll
particularly notice his superb use of sound effects as panels. You’ll notice small flourishes like the manga-inspired
visual symbol for a dead cell battery. It adds so much life to such a throwaway
moment when you consider what the alternative might have been. What, a little
red battery icon that said 0%? C’mon. What we get instead is a memorable moment
instead of a flyover panel. When you understand and have mastered the
fundamentals and then selectively break those rules, you know what that’s
called? That’s called style.

I’ll draw your attention to two additional pages that’ll
allow me to sing the praises of Greg Smallwood. On page 8, he uses the first of
two 15-panel grids(!) contained in the issue to illustrate an urban blackout.
This design punctuates the proceedings with a manic sense of claustrophobia and
lurking danger. It’s just beat after beat after beat selling you on what it
feels like to be in this dark city with a vigilante waiting in the shadows. I’d
be remiss in not also calling out Jordie Bellaire’s lighting on this page,
which sort of works its way up the side of the sequence, ignoring panel borders
and inconsequential gutters to illuminate the area where your eye needs to
eventually arrive. If you liked stuff like David Aja’s work with Matt Fraction
on The Immortal Iron Fist, or their
later collaboration on the popular Hawkeye
for something slightly more contemporary, then Moon Knight is the place you need to be.

For the coup de grace to all of the lesser artists out there
(sorry to be so direct, but y’all need to step up your game after this page),
I’ll direct your attention to page 20. Moon
Knight calls his Wing in for an emergency airlift. Simultaneously, this
inventive page layout: A) provides a very cool panel-busting reveal for his aerial
gadget, B) moves your eye down the page, falling with gravity in a series of
inverted trapezoids, which C) bring you to your final destination, looking into
the scope of a rifle, unwittingly carrying all of the storytelling action
without any pesky dialogue, and D) pull back and the entire fucking page forms
an exclamation point which punches you in the face while it punctuates
everything I just described! That’s some multivalent shit happening right
there. This is the kind of original art piece that people lust after.

Brian Wood’s script also deliberately pays its respects to
Warren Ellis and what came before. It captures the perfect blend of “if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it,” while still putting his stamp on the work for discerning
readers. There’s an effort made to capture the elusive feel of what Ellis
instituted, not just the look. The book continues the use of the same intro
text. There’s the same inclusion of forward-thinking technology that futurist
fiction writers love to dabble in. It works as a done-in-one, but now connects
to a larger narrative arc. Moon Knight’s sense of humor has that deadpan voice
to it, evidenced by lines like “Carry
on.” Moon Knight might be a raving loon. Everyone else he encounters might
think he’s a raving loon (albeit with moments of stark clarity). But, Moon
Knight doesn’t think he’s a raving loon. He’s quite serious. He doesn’t exist
relative to anyone else’s perception of him. The best villains and anti-heroes
are always the protagonists of their own narrative. It’s that juxtaposition
that allows this brand of straight-faced humor to work.

It may be a little early to posit observations like this,
but I do think this could function as one of Brian Wood’s “New York City
Books,” because of the way the city already seems intent on establishing itself
as a fundamental element. Moon Knight says as much, that this is his city,
protecting the city is important, the city is a living breathing organism
that’s just been knocked unconscious, the city is something more than the sum
of its constituent parts. Wood also laces the script with some of his trademark
moves (DMZ again service as a good
example), like the newsfeed used as a contextual backdrop, the awareness of
global political tension, or the sense of social unrest that seems to be
bubbling just below the surface.

The Wood and
Smallwood Moon Knight strikes me as
slightly less the offbeat psychological recluse of the Ellis and Shalvey Moon Knight, a necessary adjustment
reflecting the proclivities of (primarily) the writer. If the Ellis Moon Knight was half Suited White Knight
Detective (subverting its roots as Marvel’s own Dark Knight derivative), and
half, I don’t know, Doctor Strange,
then the Wood Moon Knight is
portrayed as more half Suited White Knight Detective, half “Ghost Protector of
NYC,” and that’s just fine for the more grounded sensibilities.

Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood’s Moon Knight is a strong continuation of the Warren Ellis and Declan
Shalvey incarnation, one which adds their own unique characteristics, both
aesthetically and thematically. It’s delightful, refreshing, and just plain
cool. I think that Wood may have finally found his home in the Marvel Universe,
applying his outsider ethos and indie voice to a property with mainstream
appeal and rich potential. Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey would have been a
tough act for anyone to follow, but Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood have done it
with grace and style. Grade A+.